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Basic Information

A Dystopia is a world - frequently, but not always, a Science Fiction or Cyberpunksetting - in which existing or imaginary social issues are taken to an extreme. A Dystopia often is a Crapsack World, but the reverse is not necessarily true - for instance, an After The End setting doesn't necessarily qualify since there aren't enough people to have huge, overwhelming social issues. Some sort of civilization or society must be present, though it may be crumbling. Often it is society itself which does the oppressing, but it might also be the government or other powerful political, social, or economic force or organization.

A more disturbing Dystopia can be less 1984 and more Brave New World … in which case people are oppressed not by some external force, but from within by their own degeneracy and limited ambitions.

A Dystopia doesn't necessarily require oppression either … the Cyberpunk genre is crowded with petty tyrannies but the overall impression is an almost medieval one of conflicting power centres and a net anarchy (no pun intended) that results.

It's also worth noting that one man's dystopia is not much more than everyday life for another, even (perhaps especially) in the real world.